Newcomers Junior Palacios and Steevan Dos Santos score first goals for the club
OMAHA, Neb. (April 5, 2023) – The Owls kicked off their sophomore Lamar Hunt U.S. Open Cup run with another “cup-set”, taking down USL Championship member El Paso Locomotive FC 2-0.
It was a chilly night at Morrison Stadium and 365 days since the Owls began their inaugural Open Cup run, becoming the first third-division side since 2013 and first USL League One team to ever make the quarterfinals as they went on the road to take down MLS sides Chicago Fire and Minnesota United. Wednesday marked the first time the Owls had ever hosted a higher-division side in competitive play, playing a familiar foe for Union Omaha Head Coach Dominic Casciato, who coached as an assistant for the Locomotive from 2021-2022.
On the other side of things, El Paso was looking for its first win in Open Cup play, as well as its first win against a League One opponent. The past two campaigns having been foiled by Forward Madison and Central Valley Fuego, respectively, the visitors were looking to turn things around coming off a win and a draw in its previous two league contests.
El Paso was able to put some pressure on Omaha’s back line to begin the match, but the Owls were able to quickly turn the tides and set their own pace soon after. Joe Gallardo recorded the first on-target look for the Owls in the 18th minute, ripping a shot from far outside the box that stung the hands of Locomotive goalkeeper Javier Garcia. Luis Gil, Conor Doyle and Stefan Mueller combined on a promising set piece opportunity later in the 29th minute, each taking quality hacks before Mueller’s shot over the net set up a goal kick.
Rashid Nuhu came up with a big save at the near post in the 57th minute, and the Owls were quick to pounce the other way. The deadlock was broken just a minute later, when Junior Palacios capitalized off his own rebound and slammed home his first goal in the black and lightning to put the Owls up early in the second half.
Up 1-0, the Owls weren’t content to walk away with a lone goal, getting several more quality looks off to nearly double their advantage in the minutes following.
It was the 75th minute when that opportunity came, with one of the most prolific scorers in USL Championship making his first mark in League One, as Steevan Dos Santos headed in a pinpoint cross from 2022 Open Cup run hero Joe Brito, the latter making an immediate impact off the bench.
The Owls rode the 2-0 score line all the way to the final whistle, punching their ticket into the third round of the Open Cup for the second straight year.
“I think we have a really clear identity,” Casciato said. “I think our first game of the season against Madison, we came away from that identity. Today, we were just talking about that identity with and without the ball, and I think you saw the results in the second half. We stayed true to who we are, and by staying true to who we are, I think we’re going to win a lot of games.”
Union Omaha will find out its next opponent at the third-round draw held on Thursday, April 6 at 5:30 p.m.
The Owls will return to League One action this Saturday, April 8, when they head on the road to face Central Valley Fuego FC. Omaha will return to Caniglia Field at 2 p.m. on Saturday, April 15 when it hosts North Carolina FC for Sweater Weather Night.
ABOUT UNION OMAHA
Union Omaha, the 2021 USL League One Champion, is the only professional soccer team in the state of Nebraska. USL League One is a United States Soccer Federation-sanctioned professional men’s soccer league that occupies the third tier of the American soccer landscape, below USL Championship (tier two) and Major League Soccer (tier one). Union Omaha plays its home matches at Werner Park in Sarpy County, also home to the Omaha Storm Chasers of Minor League Baseball. The team is led by General Manager Peter Marlette in the front office and by Head Coach Dominic Casciato on the field.
